bennny

Hi all, a mate was telling me about Zwift over the weekend. I’m a mountain biker, and in inclement weather this would be ideal!

I have a mountain bike, a high spec (GTX1080) PC, and a telly. From what I can gather, I’ll need to buy a basic road bike, a smart trainer, and the dongle. Ideally, I’d like a low/no maintenance option that’s permanently setup, the CycleOps Phantom 5 looks like a good choice for not dropping oil, low noise, stable etc?

1) It doesn’t look as though the Phantom 5 can integrate with Zwift for controlled resistance - am I better off buying a basic bike, and smart trainer as separate units?

2) Is Zwift the best software, or are there better alternatives in terms of usability, community and variability?

3) Any other things I should consider but haven’t mentioned?

Cheers!

Pirkaus

Cyclops CVT is a good program and has "dumb trainer" options
I have used it for a couple of years with a Kenitic Rock n Roll
Good enough to get me through New England winters

deapee

Zwift works great with my Kurt Kinetic Road Machine (smart) - it doesn't control the resistance - the resistance is controlled from inside the unit based on speed - to give 'road-like resistance.' I'm not sure how other trainers work, but you can cruise along pretty easy at 90 watts or you can push 500 watts in a higher gear - it just handles the resistance and you don't have to worry about it. It also broadcasts cadence.

amyanderson

Use the Bkool very useful software with upgrade version

Athens80

Check out Ray Maker's 2016-2017 Trainer App In-Depth Guide and 2016-2017 Bike Trainer Recommendations.

You don't need a road bike for indoor training. You can use a trainer with your mountain bike. And smart trainers in the $600 (two new models there) to $1,500 range are wheel-off, direct from your chain to their cassette. If you want a permanent training bike, you can get that with an inexpensive bike combined with a smart trainer, for less than the Phantom 5, if I've seen accurate prices.

Zwift is great for the community. If riding with, or competing against, others, is motivating, consider Zwift.

Smart trainers, with controlled resistance, do add to the experience.

redfooj

1. you dont need a road bike. most turbos are compatible with all different wheel sizes. i imagine you would want to purchase slicks or dedicated trainer tires to ensure better grip with the roller wheels.

2. whether you want a smart or a dumb trainer depends what your objective is....

-do you want to approach it from a video game perspective where the trainer simulates the virtual terrain? then smart trainer.

-do you simply need some exercise time indoors or to use as structured training? dumb trainer is fine.

i've only used zwift so i can only comment on that, but even in a sandbox i think its pretty cool and theres little room i can imagine for improvement.

initially it was used for logging random hours on the bike, meaning i followed the virtual world and went with the pace and resistance dictated by the course. in that sense, having my smart trainer was cool.

however, even that got boring fast, and now i use the trainer for quick, effective, targeted training (meaning ride xxx wattage for yyy duration). for this, having smart trainer is not necessary. a software like zwift can map the known resistance of trainers to power so you can read the effort/intensity.... also it means the video game aspect is somewhat preserved as the power output then correlates to your virtual speed and distance




summary:
i enjoy zwift but not necessarily for the virtual environment but rather for its prebuilt training programs, easy customizability of custom training programs, and its display capabilities.

i use these to do targeted trainings... the virtual environment sorta serves as background graphics and i dont pay much attention to it.

smart trainers are not really necessary, but theyre cheap enough(300$) to obviate entry-level turbos (150-250$).

i would avoid mid-level (e.g. 500$) smart trainers. since these things are all quite noisy... if i spent that cash i would jump to the direct drive units.

TheSame

I used a cheap wheel on fluid trainer for a while. Then switched to a Wahoo Kickr. I REALLY like the the Kickr. The wheel off trainers have some nice advantages. Never have to pump up your rear tire. Plus you're not putting wear and tear on the tire. The tire contact adjustment on my cheap fluid trainer was just annoying to setup every time i hopped on the trainer to do a workout.

The majority of my workouts right now are on the trainer. Kids / baby are keeping me from riding outdoors for now.